An elderly Rwandan immigrant Lazare Kobagaya 84, accused of genocide by the Rwandan government, reacted with joy yesterday after hearing news that the US government has dismissed all charges against him and also to hear that his U.S citizeniship was restored.
However the Rwandan government has not welcomed the closure of charges against him by the U.S government saying that he was supposed to be deported back to Rwanda to be charged against 1994 genocide crimes.
Exclusively speaking to igihe.com, Jean bosco Siboyintore, the Acting head of Rwanda’s Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit (GFTU) said: “We had earlier requested the U.S government to deport him back to Rwanda and be charged with genocide crimes because we had not welcomed their charges against him about immigration crimes.
“The U.S government does not have the law to prosecute genocide crimes and he should be deported to be charged in Rwanda.
“If that is the decision taken to dismiss all charges on him, then we are going to review it and ask the U.S government about another alternative on how to get him charged on genocide,” Siboyintore added.
On the other hand, Kobagaya’s lawyer said: “He won’t be deported, he won’t be jailed, he won’t be put on probation and that his life is basically restored.”
US prosecutors had charged Kobagaya with lying about his actions during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in order to gain entry to the United States and eventual citizenship.
While he cannot be tried in a US court for crimes committed in Rwanda, Kobagaya could be deported if convicted of lying to immigration officials when he denied participating in genocide.
His family said that deportation to Rwanda is tantamount to a death sentence.
In May, jurors found that Kobagaya made a false statement on his visa application about his whereabouts in 1994.
They deadlocked over whether he misled officials on a citizenship application by denying he took part in genocide.
On Thursday, however, prosecutors filed a motion seeking to set aside the verdict and dismiss all charges against Kobagaya. Judge Monti Belot granted the motion to throw out the case against him.
Prosecutors said they had failed to inform defense attorneys of an immigration official’s statement that Kobagaya’s mere presence in Rwanda in 1994 would not have barred him from entering the United States.
The investigation and trial, which involved sending investigators to Africa and bringing witnesses from Rwanda to Wichita, is estimated to have cost between one and two million dollars, Kerns said.
“Do I think it was a huge waste of money to prosecute this case in the first place?” Kerns said.
According to Siboyintore, the investigation carried out in Rwanda by the U.S officials was basically related to the charges of immigration crimes.
“U.S officials came and investigated about Kobagaya in Rwanda and even took some witnesses to testify because they wanted to know if he got involved in genocide so that he can be denied citizenship since U.S cannot grant citizenship to people who committed genocide and that was the reason of investigation in Rwanda,” Siboyintore pointed out.
He added that as Rwandan government, Kobagaya’s charges on genocide will continue.
Siboyintore also said that he doesn’t know why U.S dismissed charges on Kobagaya since it was proved that the genocide happened when he was in Rwanda yet he had lied saying he was not in the country by the time.
During his trial, some witnesses testified that he led the killing of ethnic Tutsi residents of Rwanda, but other witnesses contradicted those statements, Inquirer news reports.
Kobagaya became a US citizen in 2006. He came to the attention of US officials after giving a statement in support of a former neighbor on trial for genocide in Finland.
Kerns said the erroneous visa application was actually filled out by one of Kobagaya’s sons.
Kobagaya has 11 sons and daughters, all but one of whom lives in the United States, along with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Kerns said. “The family reaction was overwhelming joy and a great sense of relief that the case has finally come to a close,” Kerns said
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